Ben Stein — economist, former Nixon speechwriter, host of “Ben Stein’s Money,” and defender of the failed policy of trickle-down economics — made the news rounds yesterday to talk about Donald Trump’s thoughts on the economy.

Ben Stein is not a fan of Donald Trump’s thoughts on the economy.

— “In all of my years as an economist, which is roughly 50 years, I’ve never seen such nonsense as we just heard from Mr. Trump. And it breaks my heart, it makes me want to cry because I’m Republican.”

— “I’ve never voted for a Democrat, and to think the guy who’s our likely standard bearer has such nonsensical ideas on every single aspect of the economy is just breathtakingly horrible.”

— “The political incentive is clear. I guess he might as well say also men from Mars are coming down. But there’s just nothing factual about what he’s saying. We’re not in a bubble.”

— “There’s no sign we’re heading for a recession and if we are, he doesn’t know and there’s no way he’s going to be able to fix it. Cutting taxes is not going to fix it. Renegotiating trade deals with Mexico and China is just a way to start a gigantic recession. I mean, this is a very scary thing.”

— “By the way, most of these metrics are measured. The unemployment rate is not 20 percent, something he’s been saying, which is just — might as well say it’s 2 million percent. Might as well count the dead as being unemployed.”

— “I think [Chris Christie] made a mistake getting on the Trump bandwagon. And I just hope that bandwagon does not drag the whole party out to sea and sink us like the Goldwater bandwagon did when I was a young man. I don’t want to see that happen again to the Republican Party, but I’m afraid that’s what’s coming down the road.”

— “I’ve never voted for a Democrat, but Mr. Trump I think is dangerously misinformed.

— “The idea he’s going to eliminate the national debt. He might as well say he’s going to flap his wings and fly. It’s just unbelievable this is coming from the party’s leading candidate. It’s just horrifying. I don’t know what to say. I’m just so flabbergasted by it I hardly know how to control myself.”

— “The things he’s saying are wacky, as wacky can be, just off the charts.”

— “Maybe he could take a few days rest, talk to some economists who are actually sane, and understand how the real world works. His ideas are just bouncing off the moon.”

— How does Ben Stein explain why Donald Trump is leading in the polls? “Sheer idiocy.”